Augustine's Theology of Preaching

Preface

Preface The aim of our study is to suggest a meaningful hermeneutical key for interpreting Augustine’s Sermones ad Populum. It is hoped that suggesting such a guide through the Sermones will illuminate the undergirding theological convictions which shaped Augustine’s approach to the task of preaching. There is a vast amount of scholarly literature about Augustine. However, his Sermones and his preaching generally, are not adequately represented in publications. The actual distribution of academic writing is disproportionate. Augustine’s corpus comprises over five million Latin words, yet 15 percent of modern publications on Augustine focus on only two of his writings: Confessiones and De Civitate Dei.1 When the Sermones ad Populum are mentioned in academic studies, it is often in a surprisingly dismissive manner. The Cambridge Companion series is a benchmark publication, generally accepted across many fields as representative of the current state of scholarship. Yet the Cambridge Companion to Augustine describes the Sermones as having a “short and scrappy focus on issues of pastoral urgency.”2 An academic lecture complains that “much of what Augustine says in his preaching is unexceptional, even banal.”3 When Augustine’s preaching is overlooked, an imbalanced portrait of Augustine is given. Arguably, this is present wherever people imagine him as merely a philosophical theologian, associate him solely with the refutation of heresies, or link him only with controversial doctrines like original sin. Augustine distinguished himself from other bishops by devoting himself to the ministry of preaching. Many others made only a cursory effort at the task, or held back altogether for fear of Donatist reprisals. We may assume that preaching to the congregation at Hippo demanded of Augustine less knowledge and ability than writing the treatises for which he is famous. However, he himself thought that preaching would require of him an intimidating depth of Scriptural knowledge.4 1. Hubertus R. Drobner, “Studying Augustine, an Overview of Recent Research,” in Augustine and His Critics, ed. Robert Dodaro and George Lawless (London: Routlege, 2000), 23. 2. James O’ Donnell, “Augustine: His Time and Lives,” in The Cambridge Companion to Augustine, ed. Eleonore Stump and Norman Kretzmann (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001), 11. 3. David G. Hunter, “Sex, Sin and Salvation: What Augustine Really Said” (Washington Theological Union, 2002). xix When academics marginalise the Sermones, the real Augustine is not represented accurately. It may appear at first glance that these deal mainly with matters of pastoral urgency but at the same time, for example, they provide an essential resource for understanding how Augustine articulated his doctrine of the trinity5 or the resurrection.6 One of many reasons that Augustine was so influential arose from the shift he made from secular life to Christian ministry. Understanding precisely how he developed from a pagan orator into a Christian preacher is essential for the sake of historical fidelity. Studying Augustine’s preaching will not only yield us a truer understanding of his life and concerns, but may also help us explore areas which today are of considerable importance. We need to articulate methods of persuasion which do not succumb to manipulation and abuse of power. This is a concern in many areas of human endeavour. In the church, there is also the added pressure that many assume preaching is a hopelessly outmoded ministry which ought to be replaced by more visual or interactive experiences. The church needs to reflect on how to communicate the message of God’s salvation in Christ to a secular society which assumes God is at best an irrelevance, and at worst, a dangerous idea. Those who engage in Christian ministry often wonder how, or to what extent, they may benefit from utilizing secular learning and means of communication. In addressing all these issues, a study of Augustine’s preaching may be valuable. Classical scholars and historians have begun to notice the immense historical and cultural significance of the Christian sermon. The Edinburgh Companion to Ancient Greece and Rome argues that the sermon was Christianity’s foremost contribution to ancient culture, representing “nothing less than a revolution in the politics of literary production, a democratisation theorised, in fact, by Augustine himself.”7 Preaching was a distinctive form of communication which had long term ramifications for secular society. It also was the main way in which the church interacted with Scripture: “Dans la tradition chrétienne, tout au long de la période patristique, c’est l’homélie liturgique actualisante qui constitue la part de loin la plus importante de la litt...